Tankor (BM)
Tankor SMAAAAAASHHH! Tankor PULLLVERIZZZZEEE! Tankor SLAGBEAST BOTS! Tankor is the brute force part of Megatron's first trio ofVehicon generals and commander of the powerful Tank Drones. He's slow, simple-minded and immensely powerful. Lovably dim, his limited intelligence can be a drawback; he can easily be confused, misled, or even turned against Megatron, though temporarily. However, this is balanced out by his natural state of blind frustration and destructive rage, which makes getting him to listen to any cajoling a less than simple task. Tankor is in actuality a programmed shell personality given life by the spark of the Maximal Rhinox. An alternate-universe incarnation of Tankor is also a Minion of Unicron in a vast, multiverse-spanning conflict. He may or may not be a mindwiped Maximal. His command code is "pulverize". Fiction Beast Machines cartoon : Voice actor: Paul Dobson, Richard Newman (as Rhinox, later Tankor) (English), Daiki Nakamura (Japanese), more» "Tankor's name litt... leeter... as it sounds!" When the Maximals returning to Cybertron from the Beast Wars were infected with Megatron's virus, Rhinox was not as lucky as most of his comrades. While the Transmetalswere able to stay mobile for a time, Rhinox was immediately paralyzed and overtaken by Tank Drones. His spark was forcibly removed and stored in a canister in Megatron's citadel.Revelations Part III: Apocalypse When Megatron found that he needed underlings to properly control his Vehicon armies in battle, he used Rhinox's spark to power his tank general Tankor. He reasoned that if the Maximals discovered their new enemy had once been their close friend, they would be less willing to fight him. Unfortunately for Megatron, Tankor was only marginally more intelligent than the mindless drones he was created to lead. Meanwhile, Rhinox's spark/consciousness remained intact inside Tankor, albeit unable to act. Fires of the Past The Maxies are playing with the big boys now! After Megatron claimed there were fabulous prizes to be won! for whichever general got the Maximals, Tankor went after them and, after a vicious battle, actually captured them. He then took them to Megatron and demanded his reward... which would be to have his spark removed. Primal managed to use his affinity with the Allspark to contact Tankor's spark and convince him to do the right thing: the Vehicon helped them escape and went on the run with then, but Megatron was able to remote delete the tank's memories of this so he'd be their enemy again. Primal felt something familiar about that spark, though.Mercenary Pursuits The Maximals tried to ambush Tankor to see whether drones would stop functioning without their general; the plan would go tits up, however. The Weak Component True to Megatron's expectations, the Maximals did attempt to reach Tankor's spark, and they discovered his true nature. They woke his spark, but the Rhinox they got was not the Rhinox they expected. Tainted and embittered by his time inside Tankor, Rhinox rejected the Maximals and embraced Megatron's plan for a "peaceful", technologically-pure Cybertron, only with himself at its head instead of Megatron. Revelations Part III: Apocalypse Don't make me pull this spark over. Tankor-Rhinox immediately began plotting against both Megatron and the Maximals. He caught and reprogrammed one of Megatron's Diagnostic Drones, forcing it to work for him. Survivor He found the Oracle and, using the Diagnostic Drone, retrieved the Key to Vector Sigma from within. He then faked his own death, seeking to remove himself from both factions' suspicions. The Key. Manipulating events from behind the scenes, Tankor tricked Rattrap into activating an organic rapid-growth catalyst that would make the organics appear much more powerful and out of control, thus inspiring Megatron to take more radical measures to contain them. The Catalyst His escalating arms race gambit worked in manipulating Megatron into firing the key on a planetary scale—which would have killed all the organics, including the Maximals and Megatron, leaving Tankor to rule a pure mechanical world. Tankor's manipulations failed when he tried to attack Megatron, and a provision against doing so, hard-wired into his programming, shut him down. Due to Tankor's manipulations, however, Primal opened the Plasma Energy Chamber and Megatron fired the Key. The ensuing clash of energies destroyed Tankor's body, and his spark joined the Allspark. End of the Line Primal met Rhinox's spark one last time within the Allspark, where Rhinox expressed regret over his recent actions. Fallout Universe CD-ROM "TANKOR RAAAAAAAAAPTURED." On an alternate Cybertron, Tankor fought alongside the Decepticons Obsidian, Razorclaw,Reptilion, and Blackarachnia against Optimus Primal and his Autobots. One of these battles—the most violent of that year—was interrupted by a mysterious ship that sucked those Decepticons up on beams of light and sped away. None of the combatants realized that it was taking its captives to Unicron for use in a massive army. Universe CD-ROM 3H Universe comic In a parallel universe, the Predacon Megatron "decimated" Cybertron's population by capturing their sparks.1 (It is unknown whether this literally means he only got one-tenth of the Cybertronians.) Tankor served under him, a veneer of dumb, brutish loyalty secretly concealing his actual dumb, brutish loyalty to Obsidian. It was at the latter's bidding that Tankor terminated Megatron, allowing Obsidian to supplant the Predacon's rule with an iron-fisted tyranny of his own. Tankor became the enforcer of this new regime, knowing no purpose but the destruction of all that stood before his master. The pair put down uprisings and held the planet in fear... until Unicron decided that such a mindset would serve his own purposes, and he pulled them out of their universe entirely.2 Because that's what friends do. Unicron, his ruined form trapped between dimensions, sought to revitalize himself by pitting abducted Transformers against each other within his own body, absorbing theirenergon radiation and, eventually, sparks. But Tankor was spared this fate, instead overseeing the deathmatch arena along with Obsidian, Razorclaw, Reptilion, and Striker.Silverbolt, one of the intended victims, recognized Tankor. Obsidian confirmed the familiarity, but noted that in his and Tankor's own timeline, Silverbolt had "died screaming".Abduction For all his accomplishments, Tankor still did a pretty crappy job of keeping Optimus Primal from freeing Silverbolt and dozens of other captives. Escape Notably, by this time Tankor's allegiance was "Decepticon"2 though it's unclear if this had always been the case, or for how long. In fact, there is no particular sign that he shared his alternate incarnation's Maximal past at all. Fun Publications Cybertron comic Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! In the final battle of the Universe war, Rhinox defeated this Tankor, presumably redeeming his actions as his own universe's Tankor. Revelations Part 2 IDW Generation 1 continuity "You promised us PEACE!" threatened the guy named Tankor who transforms into a tank with a giant missile launcher cannon over his shoulder and more missiles in his chest. During the war, Tankor fled Cybertron, and returned there in the present day with the promise of peace. No Exit When a submerged Titan was discovered, which declared Starscream the chosen one, Tankor witnessed this along with many others. Primus: All Good Things Later, Tankor helped Flatline deal with the wounded after the Necrotitan's death wave, and, having fallen in with Scoop's religious rhetoric, he accused Starscream of being the source of the city's troubles. No Exit When 70 billion Ammonites struck Iacon, Tankor was among those evacuated from the burning city. Black Planet Tankor attended the public trial of Megatron. Towards Peace Six months later he was drinking at Maccadam's Old Oil House alongside another Tankor he'd befriended. Other Cybertronians called him "Fat Tankor" to differentiate the two, though wisely not to his face. A 'Bot and Her City At the bar the two Tankors were interviewed by Circuit on the subject of a recent attack on Windblade, and Fat Tankor was quick to point the blame at Starscream. Windblade #2 Windblade brought them both with her into the depths of Metroplex to show evidence of Starscream's foul play, only for the group to be captured and imprisoned by Starscream's Badgeless thugs. Fortunately they were broken out of jail by Chromia, Sky-Byte and Swindle. Windblade #3 Games Transformers Legends Tankor was part of a group of Decepticons who teamed up with the Autobots Wingblade and Nightbeat to battle the Ammonites on a distant planet. Together, they were able to drive off several Ammonite attacks, but the two factions soon started fighting one another over differing opinions. Eventually, the Autobots defeated the Ammonites and sent the Decepticons packing. Though angered by this turn of events, Tankor and the other Decepticons found consolation that the Ammonites also tasted defeat at the Autobots' hands, and returned to their starship. Into the Abyss Toys Beast Machines Tankor SMASH!, Tankor CRUSH puny hum... erm BEAST BOT! * Tankor (Mega, 1999) ** Accessories: Projectile : Part of the first wave of Beast Machines product, Tankor transforms into a large Cybertronic tank. Aside from a spring-loaded missile launcher, he also features a light-piped "scanner eye" on his turret, and twin sawblades that spin via gear-wheel system when his tank mode is pushed along. In robot mode, all of these gimmicks are retained, though the "scanner eye" is this time in his robot head. : For reasons unknown, his name was misspelled as "Tankorr" on his instructions. : This toy was redecoed into Universe incarnation of Tankor. The toy's likeness was also repurposed as the non-toy Beast Eraincarnation of Quake and his drones. ::* More information on Tankor at TFU.info These are awesome. There should be Tank Drone redecos in these colors. * Tankor (Happy Meal Toy, 2000) : One of nine Beast Machines Happy Meal toys from McDonald's restaurants, Tankor transforms into a small Cybertronic tank based a bit more on the show's CGI model. This toy features a fair bit of articulation (about 8 points in robot mode), though some points are more useful than others. His head articulation, for example, is quite nice. The toy also has lightpiping through the spark and missile rack on his belly. * Tankor (Little Red Rooster Meal, 2001) : The Happy Meal toy was retooled and redecoed for release in Australia, through the Red Rooster fast food chain. Aside from the original coloration, this mold was also cast in the colors of the other three molds used by Red Rooster: Jetstorm, Megatron and Rattrap. The retooling involved removing (and plugging up) Tankor's light piping, meaning that his neck is no longer translucent plastic. Due to the softer plastic used to construct him it can be difficult to get Red Rooster Tankor's arms to come out. ::* More information on McDonald's/Red Rooster Tankor at TFU.info * Vehicon Tankor (Basic, March 26 2005) ** Japanese ID number: BR-06 ** Accessories: "energy blast" missile : Released in the second wave of the Japanese Toys "R" Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns line (the Japanese name for Beast Machines), Tankor is a redeco of the Basic Tank Drone, transforming into a Cybertronic four-tracked tank. Pressing the spark crystal on his cannon connects a gear-wheel system on the underside of his tank mode, spinning his barrel as he is pushed along, eventually firing a spring-loaded "energy blast" missile. : Although the Beast Wars Returns line's aim was show-accuracy, this toy's coloration is more accurate to the Tank Drones rather than Tankor (which is ironic, given that the American Tank Drone is colored like Tankor). It even has the Tank Drones' green headlights rather than Tankor's standard yellow. : It is highly (in fact, almost perfectly) show-accurate to the Tank Drones, although woefully out of scale with the other Beast Machines toys. Like the rest of the line, actually... : This mold was also used to make Stockade. ::* More information on Beast Wars Returns Tankor at TFU.info Universe We never actually met before, but here we are! * Tankor & Obsidian (Ultra, 2003) ** Accessories: Projectile : Part of the first wave of Universe Ultra sets, Tankor is a redeco of the original Mega toy in an olive-green and mustard-yellow coloration with "energon surge" paint on various parts. He retains all of the gimmickryof the original toy. He was only available in an Ultra-level two-pack withObsidian. ::* More information on Universe Tankor at TFU.info Generations "Tankor, smashing!" * Tankor (Deluxe, 2014) ** Series / Number: 02 / #015 ** Accessories: Missile : Part of the ninth wave of 2012-onwards Generations Deluxe Class toys, Thrilling 30 Tankor is a brand-new mold that is accurate to his cartoon appearance in robot mode. In both robot mode and tank mode, he has a firing missile that is launched when the cannon barrel is pulled back. : He comes with a copy of "No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6," which places its pages massively out of order. Legends * Tankor (Deluxe, 2014) ** ID number: LG03 : Legends Tankor is a redeco of Generations Tankor. Merchandise Robot Heroes * Cheetor vs. Tankor (2009) An adorable little fascist! : Tankor is part of the fourth wave of Universe Robot Heroes and is designated as from the "Beast Machines Series," along with his packmate Cheetor. His sculpt is derived from his television show appearance, but his colorscheme is taken from the Tank Dronetoy. Tankor has articulation at the neck and shoulders, though his left arm doesn't have good clearance with his hip. : Rather than using the Beast Machines Maximal and Vehicon symbols, the embossed faction logos on the top of the Cheetor/Tankor packaging are the pre-existing Beast Wars Maximal and Predacon symbols found on Beast Wars-themed Universe Robot Heroes packs. ::* More information on ''Robot Heroes Tankor at TFU.info'' Notes * Unlike the other Vehicon Generals, Tankor is the only one that doesn't have any assistance. Even though he's the leader of the Tank Drones, he barely uses them. The first time he's seen ordering them is in episode 8, and in the next episode, Rhinox is awakened inside Tankor, making Tankor's leadership the most short-lived out of all the Vehicon Generals. * According to Beast Machines DVD commentary by Story Editor Bob Skir, Tankor is influenced by the Hulk. * Rhinox is the only one of the original Vehicon generals who doesn't enjoy the persona and escapades of his alias. * Skir's original intention was that Rhinox had "seen all sides of the argument, and chose to go more in Megatron's direction" in''Beast Machines'', and that after a quiet chat, he and Optimus would part company. As Richard Newman played that scene with growling and shouting, Rhinox instead sounded not quite in his right mind after his experiences.3 * For the Japanese dub, any ambiguity or mystery surrounding Tankor's previous life was eliminated, as he spoke with Rhinox's vocal tic of ending sentences in "''-dana''". This was done to absolute excess, as entire lines of dialogue would be replaced with Tankor screaming "DANADANADANADANADANADANAAAAA!" Foreign names * Japanese: Tankor (タンカー Tankā) Category:Transformers Villains Category:TV Show Villains Category:Robots Category:Aliens Category:Deceased Villains Category:Non Humans Category:Humanoid Category:Epic villains Category:Antagonists Category:Redeemed Villains Category:Leader Category:Male